Age of Rust: An RPG Adventure Game, unlock up to 20BTC in final version

[cloverme]

SpacePirate: Age of Rust

http://spacepirate.io

I thought it would be cool to talk a little about this project that I've been working on and a little about myself and background as well. I thought it would also be interesting to discuss some of the struggles as well, not just technical, but working with other people on a project too. So, as you can imagine from the title, I'm working on building a science fiction based RPG adventure game that uses Bitcoin as a not only in-game currency, but also contains hidden treasure rewards in bitcoin too. Players can earn bitcoin by solving puzzles, defeating other players, and finding it as "loot" in unexplored areas of the game

Why build a game like this? So, right, I grew up playing adventure and rogue-like games on the C64 like "The Pawn" and "Adventure" on the Atari 2600. These games captivated the imagination and got me interested in computers, which then led me into a career in enterprise infrastructure for more than 20 years. Games like Kings Quest and Space Quest from Sierra were played all night long, sometimes with a high degree of frustration. Really though, playing games like Zork and then reading the choose your own adventure books got me interested in sci fi. So later on, playing games like MajorMUD and Tradewars was great, because you would really develop a kinship with other players that drove a community narrative, so many, many years later when Bitcoin came along, I wanted to really build something on top it and weave bitcoin into the game as a currency.

Another aspect to the game that I wanted to build in was a bit of a treasure hunt. Growing up, I was fascinated with those time life mysteries of the unknown books and other mysteries with lost treasures. The thought of going on a treasure hunt and solving a mystery was often a lure that led me to other interesting works and projects. So for example, reading the book Ready Player One, or the forest fenn treasure, and also the Treasure's Trove book with jeweled bugs were fascinating to follow. So some of these things were inspiration to build those things into SpacePirate, I wanted to include a mystery and a hidden treasure into the game for players to find and solve. Bitcoin was also the perfect type of element for doing something like that, no need to pack a bag and go half way around the world. So the concept of hiding something within the context and narrative of the game was key. I didn't just want to build a "hack and slash" only game, while it is still in there, the ability to explore and seek a treasure without combat was an interesting concept that I liked.

From a motivational standpoint, I wanted to create a world setting for this concept but didn't want to write a book, while I liked writing, my technical side comes alive. So, my background is IT-based, with over 20 years of IT infrastructure experience in aerospace, starting as NASA network engineer back in the early 90's. So naturally, I liked to develop, create, and design IT systems and when Bitcoin came along, I started to mine and joined this community. At this point, all I had was ideas, so I started to jot them down and think about it and kind of build a concept of a MUD with Bitcoin integration. So I started to worldbuild what that universe might look like in that kind of a narrative. It's very much a dark post-apocalyptic distant future (~2500 years from now) where space travel is common. There's exoplanet mining, colonies, a military presence, privateers, ai-driven robots, and bounty hunters. A lot of the technology has broken down and isn't well understood due to a large pandemic that wiped out about 80% of people about 1500 years in the future. As a result, advancements in technology, science, and culture stopped. That's where the "Age of Rust" concept comes from for this first "episode" of the game.  The idea being that technology is going dark, rusting, and falling apart, and that is in what is now "present day" in the game.

As you can imagine, a few people in the community got excited about this. Either through just me discussing it, or just in general when talking about bitcoin or RPG's, I would talk about "this game I'm building". As a result, some people wanted to invest into the game, so I've received some BTC to help develop and build the game. More people wanted to invest, but I didn't want to focus my time on crowdfunding right then and there, so I put it off.  However, in 2017 I've decided to do a crowdfunding campaign to accelerate some of the development in the game and add additional features and extend some of the game. That being said, I'm about 70% through development, so I think that's a good thing to discuss in terms of being able to deliver a working game for people that do decide to help crowdfund it. Here's a roadmap showing what's been developed and what's left in the game to still build:

There's still a lot left to build, so I've been working on that. Recently I've just put up a basic website to share additional information about the game. Like all things, it still needs work, I plan to add a video showing gameplay and other things. Then eventually will have some early access to the game to play it for those who want to try it out, right now the game is running with testnet bitcoin. There's a lot I want to do security wise before putting the game on the live blockchain. From time to time, I'll also hire people here from the board to help work on pieces of the game. I've hired a few of you to subcontract out pieces of the development. To me, this is an important thing with Bitcoin in general, to help the community within itself and what better way to do that than build something fun. In any event, if you have questions or comments about the game, even ideas or concepts that you would like to share, i'd love to hear them.  

[1715000765]

1715000765

[cloverme]

In the next week, I'll be doing a "prologue" story before the launch of the game with a puzzle to solve with a 0.1BTC reward.  Clues will be on the website and tell an intro story in the form of a narrative that leads to the start of the game.

[Kprawn]

As a BatMud addict, I can tell you that these games can be huge. A big kudos to you for using Bitcoin as the in-game currency and not a token or

Alt coin, like the other fools. I will be looking forward to see where this one will be going and I hope it's going to be EPIC.  ... Batmud has it's

own in-game currency, but you can buy the currency with Fiat or make donations in other payment options. Just a pity, they are not accepting

Bitcoin...  ..... I would be the Mithril King. 

[Emerge]

So this is a large scaled MUD that you're integrating blockchain assets on?
Seems interesting.. If you need a tester I would be willing to dive in

[cloverme]

As a BatMud addict, I can tell you that these games can be huge. A big kudos to you for using Bitcoin as the in-game currency and not a token or

Alt coin, like the other fools. I will be looking forward to see where this one will be going and I hope it's going to be EPIC.  ... Batmud has it's

own in-game currency, but you can buy the currency with Fiat or make donations in other payment options. Just a pity, they are not accepting

Bitcoin...  ..... I would be the Mithril King. 

Nice, I'll check out batmud, just did a quick look on it and it looks like it's been running for a long time. It's interesting to see woldbuilding mud like that run for a long time. It's all about having a good community to work within and game with. I like mud's so I'll be checking it out, thanks for the tip. How long have you been a player there?

Yeah, I had flirted with an altcoin earlier for the in-game currency, but decided against it in the end. I have some light counterparty integration for some things in the game that are tokens on the bitcoin blockchain. They are puzzle-related though and not used as currency in the game.

Yeah, I don't see doing payment options in spacepirate at the moment. I don't want to get into an area where say, people use the game to convert paypal to bitcoin as a backchannel way to buy bitcoin. So I see it being bitcoin only... But I like that honestly.

[Patatas]

Boy,if this post was on reddit,it would have got insane upvotes by now!
Did someone ever tell you you're a nice story teller ?Okay,on-topic now :

Are the graphics still in the development phase or the game's UI is something like the terminal?
From the screenshots on your website,the game does look like a bit technical to me,a step ahead of regular gamers but of course bitcoiners love that!
How many developers are contributing currently ?Don't tell me you've coded the thing alone ?
Btw,I can jump in if you need any help with the development.

[aizzaku]

Wow this is quite intriguing. They way described it got me interested in the devlopment of the game. i will be following this

Please keep updating about the project and are you looking for some input from others.. or beta testing.. then maybe i can be of help

[cloverme]

So this is a large scaled MUD that you're integrating blockchain assets on?
Seems interesting.. If you need a tester I would be willing to dive in

That's correct... The game economy is 100% bitcoin, but I'm also using blockchain assets (counterparty/bitcoin tokens) for some game puzzle elements.  Awesome, I'll be opening alpha and beta testing in the next couple of months.

[cloverme]

Boy,if this post was on reddit,it would have got insane upvotes by now!
Did someone ever tell you you're a nice story teller ?Okay,on-topic now :

Are the graphics still in the development phase or the game's UI is something like the terminal?
From the screenshots on your website,the game does look like a bit technical to me,a step ahead of regular gamers but of course bitcoiners love that!
How many developers are contributing currently ?Don't tell me you've coded the thing alone ?
Btw,I can jump in if you need any help with the development.

Thank you, I'm humbled by your very kind words!! I deeply believe that sharing the experience of building the game with the community is important. Plus, I love sharing the stories and getting great ideas from everyone.

The graphics are still in development and yeah, the overall UI is very retro/terminal style. I'd love to make a star-citizen kind of game, but I don't have the team or money for that, so maybe at sometime the future. For now, it's very much an ascii art kind of presentation of some game assets. Otherwise it's a terminal style game, similar to a game called "Code 7".

You picked up on part of it, I've kind of built some elements of the game to appeal to people who play some of the dice games. I would imagine that I'm going to have to ease-down some of the complexity on the game. The other thing is that I hope it exposes some of bitcoin to people who may not be familiar with bitcoin or can't afford bitcoin. This will be a way for people to get it if they can win it or find it in the game.

I've had some developers come into and out of the game over the past few months, mainly I'll outsource piece of the code and game to developers here on the board. I strongly believe in hiring local and those familiar with bitcoin and paying for services in bitcoin as well.  I've done roughly maybe about 30-40% of the coding on myself, so not alone, no.  That great, the next time I have a work package that I need done, I'll let you know and see if you're interested

[Kprawn]

As a BatMud addict, I can tell you that these games can be huge. A big kudos to you for using Bitcoin as the in-game currency and not a token or

Alt coin, like the other fools. I will be looking forward to see where this one will be going and I hope it's going to be EPIC.  ... Batmud has it's

own in-game currency, but you can buy the currency with Fiat or make donations in other payment options. Just a pity, they are not accepting

Bitcoin...  ..... I would be the Mithril King. 

Nice, I'll check out batmud, just did a quick look on it and it looks like it's been running for a long time. It's interesting to see woldbuilding mud like that run for a long time. It's all about having a good community to work within and game with. I like mud's so I'll be checking it out, thanks for the tip. How long have you been a player there?

Yeah, I had flirted with an altcoin earlier for the in-game currency, but decided against it in the end. I have some light counterparty integration for some things in the game that are tokens on the bitcoin blockchain. They are puzzle-related though and not used as currency in the game.

Yeah, I don't see doing payment options in spacepirate at the moment. I don't want to get into an area where say, people use the game to convert paypal to bitcoin as a backchannel way to buy bitcoin. So I see it being bitcoin only... But I like that honestly.

I have been playing it on and off for 16 years... and when I started it was only text. They have a huge following and many of the players are

from Finland. The game is VERY addictive and I clocked many YEARS on that game.  I do not know if people will find these games

interesting, but through the MudClient most of the actions are automated. This is the site ---> https://www.bat.org/ and here are some info

about the game ---> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BatMUD

[cloverme]

I have been playing it on and off for 16 years... and when I started it was only text. They have a huge following and many of the players are

from Finland. The game is VERY addictive and I clocked many YEARS on that game.  I do not know if people will find these games

interesting, but through the MudClient most of the actions are automated. This is the site ---> https://www.bat.org/ and here are some info

about the game ---> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BatMUD

Very cool, thanks, I spent some time last night checking it out. There's a lot of active muds out there, so it's been interesting checking them out.

You're right, this isn't a "mass appeal" game, it's very much built towards a niche. I kind of modeled it towards a game people may wander out and wander back in over time. Some of the concepts for it also came from sitting in chat at dice game sites, like just-dice. While it's not a gambling game, it's something to do while chatting and vice versa. There's also 4.6 bitcoins in treasure sitting in the game, which will grow, so that may bring some people in too.

[cpfreeplz]

I have been playing it on and off for 16 years... and when I started it was only text. They have a huge following and many of the players are

from Finland. The game is VERY addictive and I clocked many YEARS on that game.  I do not know if people will find these games

interesting, but through the MudClient most of the actions are automated. This is the site ---> https://www.bat.org/ and here are some info

about the game ---> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BatMUD

Very cool, thanks, I spent some time last night checking it out. There's a lot of active muds out there, so it's been interesting checking them out.

You're right, this isn't a "mass appeal" game, it's very much built towards a niche. I kind of modeled it towards a game people may wander out and wander back in over time. Some of the concepts for it also came from sitting in chat at dice game sites, like just-dice. While it's not a gambling game, it's something to do while chatting and vice versa. There's also 4.6 bitcoins in treasure sitting in the game, which will grow, so that may bring some people in too.

Definitely having these rewards will reel people in.

"What? A game where I can earn real money? Why wouldn't I play?"

 I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this. Great idea.

[cloverme]

Definitely having these rewards will reel people in.

"What? A game where I can earn real money? Why wouldn't I play?"

 I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this. Great idea.

Thanks, I've been getting a lot of positive feedback in various communities (mud, gamedev, bitcoin, etc) which has been helpful. I'm working now on getting a bit of an early peek into a bit of the game, kind of a "prologue" into what happens before the main game and storyline starts. The prologue will also feature a 0.1BTC reward to whoever solves the first puzzle.  I hope to have the prologue running in the next week.

[arwin100]

Definitely having these rewards will reel people in.

"What? A game where I can earn real money? Why wouldn't I play?"

 I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this. Great idea.

Thanks, I've been getting a lot of positive feedback in various communities (mud, gamedev, bitcoin, etc) which has been helpful. I'm working now on getting a bit of an early peek into a bit of the game, kind of a "prologue" into what happens before the main game and storyline starts. The prologue will also feature a 0.1BTC reward to whoever solves the first puzzle.  I hope to have the prologue running in the next week.

Its truly nice if your project will be done since i think there's so many online players wants to play for it and earn money aswell and hope you give decent amount for prolong so people will catch this one,

Much better if you set a date of the game launch so people could see and monitor on when do the game would start.

[Chinesegandalf]

Maybe there not so many gamers in this site. Try to introduce your game at others site.
This game got the chance to hit big in gaming industry.
You can earn some penny while you playing a game?!
I'm waiting for official announcement for this game.
Two thumbs for your efforts!

[cloverme]

Maybe there not so many gamers in this site. Try to introduce your game at others site.
This game got the chance to hit big in gaming industry.
You can earn some penny while you playing a game?!
I'm waiting for official announcement for this game.
Two thumbs for your efforts!

Thanks Gandalf I've been talking to others in this genre of game over at some other sites, /r/mud for example and the gamedev facebook group, twitter, and some kickstarter groups. I'm working now on an early preview of the game to get something out there in the form of an announcement in two weeks. The prologue will be a small playable adventure with a 0.1BTC unlockable reward. The full game launch is slated for April 2017. 

[Emerge]

Maybe there not so many gamers in this site. Try to introduce your game at others site.
This game got the chance to hit big in gaming industry.
You can earn some penny while you playing a game?!
I'm waiting for official announcement for this game.
Two thumbs for your efforts!

Thanks Gandalf I've been talking to others in this genre of game over at some other sites, /r/mud for example and the gamedev facebook group, twitter, and some kickstarter groups. I'm working now on an early preview of the game to get something out there in the form of an announcement in two weeks. The prologue will be a small playable adventure with a 0.1BTC unlockable reward. The full game launch is slated for April 2017. 

Great man! Can I sign up for an early sneak peek and maybe I could get a lot of people on board right after! I have a lot of friends who are die hard fans of MUDs and Crypto!

[mrcash02]

Nice, I like strategy base defense, I think it will be the first time a feature like this will appear in a BTC game, that is why I had interest in coming to this thread to see how is this project progress and to see more details about it. If there is a BETA phase, or pre-launch phase, I would like to join if possible. 

[Kakmakr]

I would like you to give these guys a run for their money. < Plarium.com > They have banned me for 1 year on their forums, because I mentioned Bitcoin once in a thread. They do not know what they are missing, and I think someone should show them what is possible. They have loads of in-game items to buy, and skins and they sell crystals for users to buy items that would take you years to acquire, if you worked for it in the game.

A game like this will quickly go viral and we will see a price rise like never before. ^smile^

[SparkedDev]

Like the site even tho there is a few issues with spacing.
The idea seems cool like the pictures and everything else ill be watching for this to drop.
April it launches right or is that just the crowd fund?